New ‘King Kong’ opens sedately at box office

“King Kong” was not the 900-pound box-office gorilla Hollywood expected during its opening weekend.

Debuting with a merely respectable $50.1 million, Peter Jackson’s remake of the great-ape adventure left the studio pinning its hopes on the film’s possible long-term staying power.

In its first five days since premiering last Wednesday, the new “King Kong” took in $66.2 million. Some box-office analysts had predicted it would gross at least $60 million during its opening weekend and as much as $100 million in its first five days.

But distributor Universal compares “King Kong” to the first of Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” films, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” The three-hour lengths of both films limited the number of screenings theaters could squeeze in each day.

“The Fellowship of the Ring” took in $47.2 million its first weekend and $75.1 million in its first five days. But then came a steady climb to blockbuster status, with a $315 million take domestically.

“King Kong” also lacked the pent-up demand of the fan base that waited decades for J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” to hit the big screen, leaving analysts to question whether it will recoup its $207 million budget.

“It’s a strong opening, but not overwhelming,” said Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo. “It would be surprising if it didn’t cross the $200 million mark, but I’m not sure how much higher than that it will go.”

With schools letting out, “Kong” could hold strongly through the holidays, buoyed by critical acclaim and audience word-of-mouth. Crowds for the film surged Saturday compared to Friday, generally a sign that fans are talking a movie up to friends.

But if grosses drop significantly over Christmas weekend, it would dash Hollywood’s hopes that the movie would help the industry recover from a prolonged slump. Admissions are off 7 percent compared to 2004.

It also would raise a broader question in an era when movie theaters face stiff competition from DVDs and other entertainment options: If a movie as big as “King Kong,” created by a director as big as Jackson, is not a guaranteed blockbuster, then what is?

The “Lord of the Rings” finale “Return of the King” remains the top-grossing December film ever for an opening weekend, ($72.6 million), followed by “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” ($65.6 million); the middle of the “Rings” trilogy, “The Two Towers” ($62 million); “King Kong”; and “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

“Narnia,” the previous weekend’s top film, finished a respectable second to “Kong” with $31.8 million, pushing its two-week total to $113,169,644.

The weekend’s other major new release, “The Family Stone,” was third with $12.5 million, followed by “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” at $6 million and “Syriana” at $5.6 million.

Overall, the top 12 films earned $121.2 million, 22 percent higher than last’s year’s $99.1 million for the same weekend and 5 percent more than the previous weekend’s $115.8 million.